Words by Tom Price

James Deans sits back in his seat, pets his beard and tugs at his beanie. For a quick and painless interview about his November album
release, iFreestyle, this discussion gets a little deep.

But the MC who calls himself Destructo Bunny is never afraid to speak his mind. And on this Wednesday in front of Starbucks it was no different.
He talks about his legacy as a lyricist, apathy in Merced and a world crumbling around us — and he does it with a zest that leaves you filled with hope.
Deans, a Merced native, is back home after a three-year stint in Ocean Beach where he built a reputation in the underground hip-hop scene.
Through the years he’s released six-albums, all filled with lyrics soaked with intellectual and thought-provoking lyrics.

“To me, it’s more important to be a thinker than a musician,” says Deans. “I’m always going to say what I want. I want to be able to say that I got on stage and I said something.”

He says a lot of things and he talks about life and getting the most out of your time on earth.

“Just being who you be, an individual a part of society.Just being who you are trying to find out if anybody actual has a heart left,” he cries on the second track of iFreestyle.

He builds his worldview through the lens of Merced. And when he starts talking about the wrongs of the world it triggers a flash of continous thought that pops and bursts in every direction like a neverending fireworks show.

“Man, it’s the apathy of the world ... people are bored. They don’t want to come out on a Saturday night ,” says Deans about life in Merced. “But we make our own reality, we really do.”

Reality hit him hard a few months back. Still living in Ocean Beach he was driving on a roadie to Yosemite when he got the call.
A family member had cancer.

“I made the decision in a split second, when you feel it like that, you have to move,” says Deans about his decision to move home. “You see it in movies all the time and it was just like that.”

Back in Merced, he hasn’t skipped a beat. He’s got a job at The Partisan running sound and DJing and he’s working on a studio album to be released next year to follow his iFreestyle disc, which is a collection of his best on-stage moments in Ocean Beach.

“It’s really good stuff if you were in that moment. I hope you feel like you where there when you listen to it,” says Deans of his 30 track disc.
It’s clear this veteran MC isn’t chasing money or fame as he settles back into life in Merced. He’s just living his life.

“For me, it’s good enough to just be remembered.”

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